Excessive Sweating

Sweating is a normal bodily process designed to cool your body during exercise or stress.

In some men, though, sweating can be excessive, causing social unease and making the sufferer feel uncomfortable. This is known as hyperhidrosis, and is treatable in a number of ways. Excessive sweating is a problem that men no longer simply have to put up with.

What is hyperhidrosis?

Hyperhidrosis is a long and complicated medical term for unusually heavy sweating that is not controllable by normal means. A person suffering from hyperhidrosis produces sweat that is beyond the body’s normal needs for cooling.

The condition can be primary or secondary hyperhidrosis. Primary hyperhidrosis is just the excessive sweating, without any other known or identifiable cause, and is suffered by about 3% of the population. Secondary hyperhidrosis, on the other hand, is excessive sweating which results from some other type of injury (such as spinal cord injury) or other medical conditions such as endocrine or metabolic disorders, anxiety and stress, respiratory disorders, infections or neoplastic conditions. This type of hyperhidrosis is treated by treating the medical problem causing it.

How is excessive sweating treated?

Primary hyperhidrosis in men can be treated in a number of ways.

• The least invasive option is a topical application of aluminium chloride, which blocks and eventually destroys sweat glands. This is easily available over the counter and is inexpensive, but may not work in more stubborn cases
• A medication containing anti – cholinergics, which work on the nervous system, may be prescribed by a doctor for general suppression of excessive sweating. This works more generally in the body, and while it can be effective against sweating, it can also cause dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision and urinary problems
• Iontophoresis is the use of electrically charged water to tame those out of control sweat glands. This may require frequent sessions to really deal with the problem
• Injections of a chemical usually used to reduce wrinkles can also be used to control excessive sweating. The treatment can cost around $800 - $1,300, depending on how much area is to be treated. The injections are most commonly used on underarms but can be used on hands and feet with anaesthetic, as these areas are painful to inject
• Really persistent and severe hypohidrosis can be treated by surgical means. The surgery, called endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy, disrupts the nerves that cause sweating in the upper limbs, underarms or feet. The surgery may also, though, disrupt the functioning of the eyelids and pupil, and the sweating problem may simply crop up in other areas of the body, so choosing this surgery is a significant decision

The cost of treatments depends on the type, and ranges from a few dollars for the aluminium chloride antiperspirant, to up to several thousand for injections or surgery.

Treating excessive sweating in men

The good news for men with problematic excessive sweating, or hyperhidrosis, is that the condition is taken seriously, and is treatable. If you suffer from secondary hyperhidrosis, then treatment of the underlying medical problem is the solution. Primary hyperhidrosis, though, can be treated in a number of accessible ways, and is no longer a problem that men simply have to put up with.